“ Wilson The fan support in Toronto is a night-and-day difference from what we have in Buffalo. For the most part, it's a show. You see just as many jerseys for the opposing teams as you do the Bills. They cheer for any big play regardless of whichever team makes it. ” -- Bills safety George Wilson

Making sure not to knock the city or its residents, Wilson focused his concerns on questioning the loyalty and passion of fans who have attended Buffalo's games at Toronto over the past three years.

"Is that a question?" Wilson said, when asked about the support the Bills receive at Toronto's downtown Rogers Centre. "The fan support in Toronto is a night-and-day difference from what we have in Buffalo. For the most part, it's a show. You see just as many jerseys for the opposing teams as you do the Bills. They cheer for any big play regardless of whichever team makes it."

Wilson added it's impossible to replicate the raucous environment inside or outside Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, and expressed concern over the Bills losing an edge in home-field advantage.

"It's definitely not the same hostile environment that teams have to deal with coming into the Ralph out here," he said. "This is no knock on the citizens of Toronto. We know a large percentage of our fan base comes from Canada, and we're appreciative of their support. But at the same time, the environment is just not the same. That's just facts."

Wilson went public with his frustrations as the Bills (4-2) come out of their bye week off to prepare to host the Washington Redskins (3-3) in Buffalo's annual regular-season game north of the border. Aside from the lack of fan support, Wilson also noted the players pay an additional Canadian tax -- over and above a New York state tax -- to play in Toronto.

The Bills-In-Toronto series now is in its fourth year after the franchise reached a five-year, $78 million pact with Toronto-based media and communications giant, Rogers Communication, to play eight games -- five regular season and three preseason -- in Canada's largest city and financial capital.

In becoming the NFL's first team to play annual games outside the United States, the Bills consider the deal as part of the small-market franchise's bid to expand its market and draw additional revenue out of Toronto, located about a 90-minute drive from Buffalo.

The deal already has paid off for the Bills. They get about $9.75 million per game in Toronto, more than twice than they generate at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills also have reported a large bump in season-ticket sales from fans across the border, who now represent about 15 percent of the team's base.

The downside has proven to be a general lack of interest the Bills have received in Toronto. They play in a domed facility that's better suited for baseball, with the stands further removed from the playing field. Overpriced tickets -- a majority of them more than $200 -- have made it difficult to draw fans to the 54,000-seat facility. And many who have shown up either are NFL fans, who root for other teams, or are there to see the opposing team.

Playing under a roof also has neutralized the Bills' home-field advantage when it comes to the elements. That was particularly apparent in 2008. While it was snowing in Buffalo, the Bills were essentially knocked out of playoff contention following a 16-13 loss to the warm-weather Miami Dolphins in the cozy, dry confines of the Rogers Center.

The Bills are 0-3 in regular-season games at Toronto, though they've won both preseason games. The series is scheduled to end next year with a preseason and a regular-season game, though both sides have expressed interest in renewing the deal. The NFL also favors the series because it helps the Bills financially while also boosts the league's exposure in Canada.

One difference from previous years is that the game Sunday marks the first time the Bills head to Toronto with a winning record.

"Every time we've been up there we've lost, now it's a new year and we feel like we can give them a win and something to cheer about and something to love the Bills about," receiver Steve Johnson said. "This has given us a chance to expand the NFL out in Canada and I believe the fans will be excited about it, and cheering on the Bills with how our season is going."

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan took a cautious approach on the Bills lacking a home-field edge.

"If it is, obviously, that's always a positive," Shanahan said. "But I would think with Buffalo's record, and how well they're playing, they'll have a great fan base."

Though several Bills have grumbled about Toronto not being such a home sweet home, Wilson has become the most vocal critic.

"It's not ever going to be the most ideal situation because there's such a strong connection between our organization and the people here in Buffalo," Wilson said. "The expectation is there's going to be just as many cheers for the Redskins as there will be for us. We just have to make sure we're the ones making the big plays so there's no cheers for the other team."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

(The Bills and SeaHawks have a game in Toronto this Sunday. Hopefully if or when this article gets around the players and coaches of the seahawks they can win the game. I want the Seahawks to win. I don't have twitter so if people are willing to twitter Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll that would be great.)

I think this article needs to be on our main forum for this week prior to the game.

wait... Radish moved something into the main forum? Guh? Where AM I? Is this Seahawks.Bizzaro.net?

I was more surprised that it wasn't edited to a paragraph or so. That's more what I was expecting when I first saw this post before it was moved.

It is an interesting article, but not too surprising. I would expect that Toronto is similar to London, where you get a large mixture of NFL fans at the game, no matter their fan affiliation, so they are more apt to just pick a team to root for or just root for a good game.

"Think how powerful our togetherness will be, our mindset will be as we know that we've shouldered this and move forward. This is really hard to take now, but in the long run, it will make us stronger. Our guys are so strong and our future is bright." Pete Carroll

Being from Toronto and watching the Bills last year (only because of free tix), I can agree with this article for the most part.

Rogers CentRE (formerly SkyDome) is a very sterile environment. Even watching the Jays is tough there. It has no identity (other than a retractable roof).

The game is merely an event - not a sporting game.

That was written last year and they realized that the prices were wayyyy over priced so they dropped the prices this year.

The obvious hope would be that the team moves here (or propose for the NFL to expand north of the border) - then that would be a different story. The Toronto Argos draw no one. They won the championship but still no one cares for the CFL here.

For now, its merely a case study and the 'hawks should benefit from it!

The problem is that a lot of Canadians are fans of teams already and it's not necessarily just because a team is close in proximity, whether they're transplants to a bigger Canadian city or there's some other ties. There's a ton of Denver Bronco fans in Calgary because of the Bowlen family's ties here.

So you go to Toronto hoping for more money, realise that maybe scheduling your first regular season game there against the Dolphins is a bad idea when a ton of Canadians from Eastern Canada travel to Florida for vacation and cheer for Miami and then the stadium is more Dolphin fans.

It's great for the away team though seeing as the Bills are 0-3 in regular season games there.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVwhoops

Last edited by the ditch on Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Good stuff. And it can be the "excuse of the week" as to why the Hawks win. Seems like every time they win, there is always some drama attached or a reason why they won. If it's not the hail mary, it's that a team had a "bunch of injuries", or they just "played a bad game". And this week we hear that we were running up the score It seems pretty rare that it's ever built up that the Hawks actually beat a team/played well etc. This week it will be "the Hawks didn't have to play in Buffalo" blah blah blah.It cracks me up every time though. Next week if we beat the Niners, they'll think of some other reason that we beat the Whiners, not the true reason, the gap between our two teams is MINIMAL. Oh well, let em talk, doesn't matter, we'll just keep winning and they can't do sh** about it!

Thanks for all the positive comments. I've sent the ESPN article to all the major news networks in toronto and local papers as well as the New York Times and some local Buffalo news stations. As well as Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll facebook pages.

If anybody can do me the favour of posting the ESPN article on the Seatlle Seahawks offical message board/twitter that would be great.